Rudy, do not pass Go, go directly to jail. You are a war criminal and deserve to be sent up for treason from your profits from Giuliani Partners eminating from the phoney "War on Terror." Your Middle eastern money lust knows no bounds. Go away, stay away. And don't show your coward face around in NYC. Disgusting.

What a shame. Rudy is a real no-nonsence, get things done type. He would have made a great president.

Poor Rudy..where will we get our hourly dose of 9/11 now? Actually, his defeat reminds me of 9/11. By the way, Rudy showed great courage in his loss tonight -- much like on 9/11.

No one can exploit a national tragedy for political purposes like Mr. 9/11...well, except for Mr. Bush.

Imagine Rudy as VP under McCain with Cheney;s powers. Don't count him out yet.

Don't count him out...you could very well be looking at your next Attorney General

I guess we'll always have to wonder if Mr. Giuliani would have run the White House as effectively as he ran his campaign...

My guess is, yes, he would have.

I think what brought him down was September 11th, 2001. He just mentioned September 11th, 2001 way too many times. Some thought he was obsessed with September 11th, 2001, but I just thought he was making a strategic mistake referring to September 11th, 2001 in every doggone sentence.

It is possible the American people were already well aware of September 11th, 2001, and didn't think they needed so much reminding.

Rudy has to be seen as political poison at this point. No way McCain would consider him for VP.

"Rudy has to be seen as political poison at this point. No way McCain would consider him for VP."

Never underestimate the stupidity of a politician

I'm from NY, and I can tell you that Rudy would have been the worst person for the job.
He was ruthless in his pursuit of anyone who crossed him.
He cost the City of NY 7 million dollars in legal damages.
Finally, he is a coward. a. He avoided Vietnam by having his job as law clerk "a vital profession." b. He turned City Hall into a bunker - paranoid, and paranoia is the ultimate cowardace.
He did not have the courage to face his wife and tell her he wanted a divorce - he went behind her back to the media.
Good riddance to bad rubbish.

What other mayors went on to the presidency or other national office? I'm sure there are some, but I can't think of one.

Maybe it's not the NYC mayoralty that's cursed, but the job of mayor in general.

Pete asked: "What other mayors went on to the presidency or other national office? I'm sure there are some, but I can't think of one."

I cannot either, but I believe that may be because few outside of NYC mayors, if any, have ever been lured to the national stage. The conceit that goes hand in hand with being the mayor of New York, New York, as well as the hangers-on, the sycophants and the arrogance of the New York press, probably fools folks into believing NYC's mayoral seat is simply a hair's breadth from the Presidency.

I wouldn't go as far as Ed Koch but I don't know Giuliani personally. From this distant perch, I would agree that Giuliani represented something toxic and ugly in American politics and that frightening rictus that passed as a smile made me dread his candidacy. He should go back to running Giuliani partners with his ex priest pedophile friend and stay out of the limelight.

rudy as a.g. would be totally awesome! he could use justice department officials to walk his girlfriend's dog.

Bye bye, Rudy! See ya! Wouldn't want to be ya!

I can't believe it. Koch destroyed the city, let it get to the point where you couldn't walk down the street without a good chance of being mugged. The NYers loved him. Giuliani made the city a wonderful place to work, safe and sound yet the NYers hated him.

Gotta love them democrats!

Just for some perspective, when was the last time a New Yorker won a national race? (Hint: There is only 1 national race.) It was prior to WWI. Tall guy. Top hat and cigarette holder.

I am quite surprised that we had, for a brief period, two NY politicians polling well nationwide. Now that we are down to one, I would point out that she is fairly recent transplant with a national image that does not depend entirely on her position as a New Yorker.

Guiliani is a New Yorker, born and bred. The rest of the country does not great such people with open arms when they seek the presidency.

Guiliani never had a chance. The first pictures to appear in the national press after he announced were of him in drag. This was followed by stories of him using public funds to shuttle his mistress around. He offended something intrinsic in the voters conscienceness.

too bad koch didn't literally "destroyed" nyc; he could have been featured more prominently in rudy's fear-tastic ads. p.s.: kerik.

Koch has always been jealous that Rudy is clearly NYC`s best mayor ever in terms of what he actually accomplished. And whatever anyone tells you, he imporved the lives especially of minorities by making crime an issue that could be defeated rather than a given. Remember NYC under Koch? Dogs--t everywhere and dangerous subways. Heroin and Hookers in Times Square. Awful.

So Rudy unleashed a fascist and brutal police force and made NYC safe. And the trains always ran on time in Hitler's Germany. Gee, who wouldn't want a prez like that?

Seriously, America has just been saved from Rudy's foreign policy team, which was so war-happy it made hard-core right-wingers blush. Norman Podorhetz palpably LONGS for more war (from behind his keyboard, of course), creeping out even some of his neo-con buds.

This is the only candidate that I was really hoping would drop out. Reason? He was the only candidate that lives in the total denial that our current buffoon-in-office has: He really DID think he was going to win in Florida! Although all the polls and every conceivable number told him positively otherwise, he STILL believed he was going to win! We had enough of these mental cases in office. No matter what their political views are, at least the remaining candidates are sane.

Rudy was a fabulous mayor. When he wasn't wearing drag, he made the streets run on time and kept crime off the trains, or something like that.

I'm delighted that Rudy has received the fatal blow that will make him go away, perhaps as the main guest cross-dresser at Miami Beach's famous drag show club.
But does former NYC mayor Koch's revelation mean that the present one Michael Goldberg has no chance of becoming U.S. president and should indeed not even entertain the idea of running for that office?

Great, just great - just when I thought I could sleep well at night finally, along comes Vindicator and spoils it by mentioning the VP post for Guiliani! Damn, now I gotta go get more Valium...

You may not like Rudy, but you damn sure are benefiting from his time as NYC Mayor. If you are one bit honest, you can't overlook the deplorable shape,in every way, that NYC was in before he was Mayor.

NYC was on the brink of disaster. Sure, he may have hurt some feelings. but the Rudy you hate saved your ###. Not to admit such is disingenuous at best.

Please! Either Koch knows why NYC mayors can't move up and chooses not to say so, or he's as deluded as... as you'd expect from an NYC ex-mayor with ambition.

None of these men could possibly get elected. If you have what it takes to win NYC's mayoralty, including a humane approach to immigrants, a non-discriminatory approach to religious pluralism, and a modest respect for the rights of women and gay people, you CANNOT get elected nationwide as a Republican. Period.

And especially not in the Republican primaries, which have been dominated by religious extremists since 1980. It's not just Guiliani's association with crooks like Kerik and his multiple adulteries while in the Mayor's Mansion. "The curse" of unelectability nationwide falls automatically on anyone who can win New York City's mayoralty.

I'm so glad to see Rudy go! All the NEastern Republicans are not REALLY Republicans

image18301: You are right on. As a Floridian who visits NYC much, Rudy's legacy carries on today--wouldn't want the Koch NYC back--wouldn't visit

I could not be happier. Both Frankenrudy and Patakula tormented and scared the wits out of New Yorkers for years, and drained everything, including their blood.

May their corpses rest in peace. (But then again, don't the legends speak of the undead, and the reanimation of dead flesh?)

Be aware...Be very aware.

I am so glad that Rudy left the race, and I even donated to his campaign. but I am still happy,

because I am sick and tired of the freaking media repeating "nineleven" all the time.

if you'd listen to RUDY, he never even MEANTIONED his leadership on 9/11.

but the media, being afraid that he is popular for that, (and for good reason) decided to depict him as someone who says it all the time.

I urge you all to listen to all the candidates: dem and republican, and count the amount of times any of them said the words "september 11". you'll find that any of them have said it more times than Rudy.

but the media will rub it into our heads that this is all he talks about

now that he left the race, the media will finally stop harrassing him (and all us NYers) about the most horrific, and traumatic experience of his life (and all us NYer's lives)